Bionics

Bionics applies principles found in biological structures and processes to engineering systems and devices, often to improve their performance or adaptability.

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Cochlear implant: An electronic device that stimulates the auditory nerve to provide a sense of sound to people with severe hearing loss. It translates the ear’s sound-processing function into an implanted electronic system.
Biomimicry: The practice of learning from and emulating strategies found in nature to solve human problems. It shares bionics’ core strategy of deriving engineering ideas from living systems.
Jack E. Steele: An American Air Force officer and researcher who helped establish the term “bionics” in the 1950s. He gave the field its name while exploring biological models for engineering.
Biomimetics: The design and production of materials, structures, and systems modeled on biological entities and processes. The term often overlaps with bionics but emphasizes imitation in materials and design.
Prosthesis: An artificial device that replaces or supports a missing or impaired body part. Bionic prostheses combine engineered components with biological movement and control.
Bio-inspired design: An approach to design that draws ideas from biological forms, processes, or systems. It describes the translation from biological observation to engineered solution.
Bionics Symposium: A 1960 meeting at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base focused on applying biological systems to engineering. The symposium publicly organized early research under the bionics name.
Bioengineering: The application of engineering principles to biological systems and medical problems. It often engineers biology itself, rather than deriving devices from biological models.
Biomimetic robot: A robot designed to reproduce features of an organism’s form, movement, or behavior. It applies animal locomotion and body plans to robotic design.
Systems biology: The study of how components of biological systems interact to produce behavior at larger scales. Understanding interacting biological parts can reveal the functions bionic designs seek to reproduce.